Clint Dempsey Names Bun B, Pimp C & Swisha House As Influences

Clint Dempsey, a member of the United States men’s national soccer team, recently spoke about how Hip Hop has influenced his life.

“I enjoy rapping,” Dempsey says in an interview with ESPN’sHighly Questionable. “The first vehicle I ever had didn’t have a radio in it, so I would rap going to school. My younger brother would always tell me to shut up. So it’s just something I always enjoyed doing.”

His love for Rap was also a product of his appreciation specifically for Texas emcees. During the interview, Dempsey says he has “had a lot of love for Bun B, UGK, Pimp C, listening to Trae [tha Truth], listening to Swisha House. So that really shaped me as a person. That’s what I like to listen to before games.”

Clint Dempsey Recalls Working With Big Hawk On Nike Soccer Campaign

Dempsey has been able to go from a fan to collaborator as he worked with Big Hawk on Nike Soccer’s “Don’t Tread” campaign before Hawk’s death.

“Rest in Peace to Big Hawk because after we did that project he ended up being killed,” Dempsey says of Hawk, who he respects as an emcee. “My thoughts go out to him and his family always. [I] show a lot of love to him, and the rappers from Houston because they kinda helped shape me as a person because they’re a part of my development.”